


Peoria is for Lovers

by MissMudpie



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 21:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9679256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMudpie/pseuds/MissMudpie
Summary: Pitchers and Catchers return just in time for Valentine's Day.  Written for the PitchSecretAdmirers Exchange for skittles-rainbow!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skittles-rainbow](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=skittles-rainbow).



“Hey, Rook. Al says you’re getting out today, so if you need a ride home or to the store, or, you know, anything – Let me know,” is the voice-mail he never leaves.

“Get well soon, Gin. You’ve got unfinished business out there,” is the card he never sends while she’s in rehab.

“Baker – MLB network, now. Bull Durham is on,” is the middle-of-the-night text he never sends.

Instead, Mike goes the entire off-season without speaking or seeing Ginny. He’s kept up with her, of course – from Al, he knows she didn’t need surgery and her rehab went well; from Oscar, that she’ll be reporting with Pitchers and Catchers; from Blip, that she spent the holidays with his family, that her mom came to visit, that she hasn’t seen much of her brother, and even less of Amelia. But nothing directly from her.

In his defense, it’s not like she’s been lighting up his phone, either.

But now it’s here – D-Day. Or, more accurately, VD-Day, because it’s just his luck that the first day he sees Ginny Baker again, the first day Pitchers and Catchers report to Peoria, is Valen-freaking-tine’s Day.

Which means now he gets to not only see Ginny for the first time, and think of something cool-but-not-too-cool, meaningful-but-not-obviously-so, well-thought-out-but-sees-spontaneous to say – he also gets to watch a needle-nose intern deliver her a big-ass box of Russell Stover and an obnoxiously large and glittery red heart card.

He watches from across the locker room as confusion dances across her face as she opens the card. The confusion quickly turns to something sweet and tender, though; she bites her thumbnail through a smile as she reads the card. 

And dammit if that look isn’t a punch to the gut for Mike.

“You’re at least going to share with your catcher, right?” Livan teases.

In the half-second it takes for her to answer, Ginny’s eyes find Mike’s. For half an instant, the clubhouse stops and they’re back outside that bar. But then the moment’s gone, and Ginny turns back to Livan with a grin. “Have your pick,” she says, opening the box.

“Mmmm, coconut.” Livan pops the chocolate in his mouth, then throws his arm around Ginny’s shoulders. “Come on, mami. Let’s see how that cutter’s doing.”

As soon as they’re out of sight, Mike whips out his phone. “Who’s Baker dating?” he texts Blip.

Blip’s response is a string of emojis.

“What the fuck?” Mike mutters, typing out, “I have no idea what that means.”

“She’s not seeing anyone,” comes Blip’s reply.

“Then who just gave her a giant-ass candy valentine?”

There’s a pause, as the three little dots dance around. “Mike, this is Evelyn. If you want to know if Ginny is dating anyone – which she is WELL in her rights to do – you should put on your big boy pants and ask her herself. This is not seventh grade. We’re not going to pass notes for you two anymore.”

Mike scowls at the screen, but before he can respond Al’s calling them all out.

He tries to put Baker’s love life (Baker, because it’s easier to deal with her when she’s Baker, number five pitcher, than Ginny with the soft skin and curves and – dammit!) to the back of his mind as the team goes through its workout.

But then they get back inside, and there’s a big bouquet of red roses waiting at her locker. 

Mike grumbles his way to the showers.

By the time he gets out, the clubhouse is empty, and he’s just stepping in when he hears her voice. 

“It’s really too much.”

Mike closes his eyes. The boyfriend. She’s talking to the boyfriend – probably that tech gajillionaire. He steps back out of sight, letting her finish her conversation in peace.

Not so he can eavesdrop. Mike Lawson has more dignity than that.

(He doesn’t.)

“Really, the candy was enough, you didn’t have to do flowers.” There’s a pause, and then Ginny gives that horsey-laugh he’s missed so much. “Okay, I won’t share. Tell them I miss them, too.”

Miss them, too?

“He did?....No, we haven’t talked….Because we haven’t had to…..Come on, Ev, it’s my first day back.”

And now it starts to click into place. The giant heart candy, the obnoxiously red card – they weren’t sent by one valentine, but two.

“I’ll call you later. Have fun tonight…..Oh, oh God, NO I don’t need those details.” She laughs again. “I will not! Bye!”

Mike waits until she’s cleared the room before rushing to his phone.

It’s four long rings, but he’s finally welcomed with an exasperated, “What now?” from Evelyn.

“The twins sent the candy.”

He can practically hear Ev roll her eyes. “Eavesdropping isn’t the most attractive quality, Michael.”

“But I’m right.”

There’s a long exhale. “Yes.”

“And the roses?”

“I sent them. Because it’s Valentine’s and every girl, even Major League ball players, like to get things on Valentine’s Day, and since the man she wanted to get something from was clearly not going to step up – ” 

“What?” Mike chokes.

“Girls talk, Mike. I know all about that moment outside the bar.”

“Then do you also know she told me she didn’t want to ever discuss it?”

Evelyn sighs, and when she speaks again her voice is softer. “You know she asked about you, too.”

“She did?” And it must come out as more earnest and hopeful than he intended.

“So stop being idiots and talk to each other! And stop calling me – I have a date tonight!” With that, she hangs up.

For a long while, Mike just sits there in his towel, staring at his phone without really seeing it. 

“Because it’s Valentine’s and every girl, even Major League ball players, like to get things on Valentine’s Day, and since the man she wanted to get something from was clearly not going to step up – ”

With those words in his ears, he quickly dresses. He has to hit up three Targets to find everything he needs, but it’s worth it, and the sun is just going down when he knocks on Ginny’s hotel room door.

She opens the door partway and crosses her arms. “Something you need?”

Mike ignores her as he shoulders his way in. “You survived your first day of Spring Training, Rook. Congrats.” He sets the bags on the table and begins unpacking them. “We got the best tacos in Peoria – don’t ask where I got them, I’ve kept that a secret for sixteen years now. Grape soda, which is a pain in the ass to find, I’ll have you know, Baker. And a classic baseball movie even you will love.” He flashes up a DVD of A League of their Own, as well as a patented Mike Lawson Grin.

Neither of which seem to sway Ginny. She remains at the door, arms still cross. “What is this, Mike? You don’t call, you don’t even text, for months, and now what? We’re back ‘Rook’ and ‘Baker’?”

“Hey,” he snaps. “You weren’t exactly calling me, either.”

“I was the one who was injured!”

“And one of the last things you said before that was you didn’t want to talk about it!”

“I didn’t want to talk about that night, I still wanted to talk to you!”

In the wake of this burst of emotion, an awkward silence settles over them. Ginny rubs her hands over her face and then back over her head. Mike fiddles with the DVD.

“Ginny.” He waits until she looks at him. “I’m sorry. I should have been there and I wasn’t and whatever excuse I’d give is bullshit, so just – I’m sorry.”

She nods. “Okay.”

“Do you want to talk now?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to go?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath; he can tell she’s weighing her decision. Then her eyes open, and that playful spark he knows (he loves) so well starts creeping back.

“There cilantro in those tacos?”

“What do you take me for? One hundred percent cilantro-free.”

“That movie is older than me.”

“Ooof.” He covers his heart. “You sure know how to wound a guy, Baker.”

She rewards him with a grin. “I’ve actually never seen it.”

“You’ve never seen A League of Their Own? Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna? Dirt in the skirt? Lay off the high ones?” She shrugs and he points the DVD at her. “You’re lucky I came around, Rook.”

“Just start the movie.” Ginny sets out the food as Mike works the hotel DVD player, and then they settle on the floor, picnic-style, as the movie begins.

There’s still miles to go, of course; things aren’t perfect between them. But eating tacos and watching a baseball flick on Valentine’s Day is pretty good start.


End file.
